The Little Merman: The Next Chapter
by disneyprincess2
Summary: After Ariel left life under the sea, traditions changed. Now every mermaid and merman are given the opportunity to get a taste for human life. That is all Ollie wants, to see what it is like to be human. He meets Gia, a troubled girl whom he connects with. Will he win her love in time to stay human? Can he save her from herself? I do not own the Little Mermaid or it's characters
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Gianna

I took a deep breath. It was so peaceful to be here in the woods. Coming to the cabin always made me feel relaxed. Being by the sea… it did something for me, something that nothing else could. I felt that I was at home when I was by the sea.

"Gia! Gia!" called a familiar voice.

"Gia! Where are you?" it called again.

"On the back porch!" I called back.

I turned back around to look out to the sea of trees and hearing the waves crashing on the nearby shore.

"Gia!" the same voice called.

I turned to see my friend, Olivia. She was tall, tan, thin and blonde. The type of girl that every guy would turn and stare at. She was beautiful and knew that she was. She had her hair falling in perfect beachy curls around her slim face. She was wearing a short navy-blue sun dress.

"Gia! It has been so long!" she said as she hugged me.

"It has been too long!" I replied. I fell into her arms.

"How are you holding up?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Ok" I replied.

"Well, you are better off without him, right Trevor?" Trevor was her boyfriend. He spent almost as much time in his appearance as she did. He had a strong jaw and a perfectly tanned body. He had rippling muscles that stood out in his tight t-shirt.

"Umm, yeah! You don't need him!" he said, unenthusiastically.

"Alright! We will be back down in a few!" she replied to me.

Why do people keep telling me that I would be better off without him? I understand why, but when you give everything to someone and they just throw it all away…. I sighed. I came on this trip to help forget about him.

"Gia!? Is that you?" I turned to see my friend Autumn. She was tall and had beautiful black hair. Her deep brown skin was glowing today. She rushed to me and threw her arms around me. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," I replied.

"Well, you are better off without him!" she said.

There is that phrase again!

"Ray is unloading the car, so I will be down in a bit!" She turned and walked back through the house. Ray was her boyfriend. He was super cool, he played football, he was a running back and was currently being scouted by the professional teams. He was tall and muscular.

I could hear more conversing inside. We were only waiting on two more of my friends. Hailey and her boyfriend, Ian and Bianca and her boyfriend, John.

We had all been coming to the cabin by ourselves since we were sophomores in high school. This was probably the last time that we would all be together, it was our senior year of college. We all went to different schools across the country and did not get to see each other that much, except over the summer. We spent a month at the cabin. We just wanted it to be the six of us…. No, only the five of us now….

I looked back out at the trees. Why had she done it? How could she throw away a friendship like that? I sighed. Please let this trip help, I thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Oliver

"Have you decided yet?" My mother asked me.

"I am still thinking," I replied, even though I had already decided.

"Alright I will let you think," she said.

Today was the day that we got to decide if we wanted to stay a merman or not. Yes, I said merman. Ever since Ariel had decided to trade in her fin for feet, more and more merpeople decided to do that. It was now something that all young merman and mermaids decided on their 25th birthday. Today was my 25th birthday and I decided to become human. If you decided to become human, you were given one month to find your true love, or you were destined to be a merman or woman for the rest of your life. I know it sounds super dumb, but I figured I must try. I had no prospects of finding anyone to love. The mermaids just didn't understand me. They were expecting something that I just could not give them. I wanted to see more, to do more, to be more. Most of the women wanted to find a merman to build a life and stay in one spot for ever.

I knew what I had to do. I swam out into the open space of our cave, and looked over at my mother. She had tears in her eyes. I knew that I did not need to say a word, she already knew what I was going to say.

"Please tell me you decided to leave," she said through tears, "I want you to have every opportunity, and you cannot get that here"

I was shocked. I expected her to ask me to stay.

"Mother, I…" my mother and I were close, no one else understood me like her. It was just the two of us for a long time, it was going to be hard to leave her.

"Hurry, you must go now! I do not want you to miss your chance!" she pleaded with me. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"Do not worry Ollie, you will be great!" I saw a tear fall from her eyes.

I hugged her one last time, and swam toward the castle where I was to present myself to be turned human. My heart beat faster and faster as I got closer. It is happening, I have a chance to find adventure, to find love.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Gianna

The laughter from the hot tub poured into the living room. All the girls and their boyfriends were in the hot tub as I binge watched all of the shows on HGTV. Half way through the episode of House Hunters I decided to go out for a walk on the beach. I stood up and allowed my body to catch up with the sudden movement. After my body felt confident enough to move I began to toward the sliding glass door. I placed my hand on the handle of the door. I pulled the door and walked outside. I closed the door and began to walk toward the stairs on the back porch.

"Gia! Come on join us!" Autumn yelled. And the party all said something in agreement.

"I am just going to go for a walk on the beach," I replied. I pulled my light sweater around my body.

"I'll join you!" Olivia said, and she began to move but fell over spilling some of the beer from her bottle into the hot tub. The group all laughed. They seemed distracted by Olivia's clumsy display to remember that I was standing there. I walked slowly and quietly down the stairs.

I really just wanted to be by myself. The sun had only just set, so finding the path to the beach should not be too hard. I knew the cabin and the area around it almost better than my own home. I found the path quickly and easily.

The walk to the beach only took a few minutes. I walked slowly enjoying the site of fireflies in the trees. Pretty soon the trees began to dissipate and the sound of waves crashing got louder. The cabin had a private beach for us as well, which was a perk of having it. I had to remember to thank Autumn again for having us. Her father was a professional football player who was now on one of those talk shows and he did pretty well for a living, and let us go to his seaside cabin once a summer when we could.

I removed my shoes and felt the cool sand touch my feet. I felt as though I was home. I took a deep breath of sea air. I began to feel a little better. No, I told myself, don't think of them now. It was no use the site of my boyfriend and best friend together was ingrained in my head. The tears came back to my eyes.

I ran toward the water as I began to cry harder and harder with every step. I could barely breathe by the time I reached the hard sand. I was not looking where I was going and tripped over a piece of drift wood. As I hit the cool, hard sand. I sank down. I was basically gasping for air by now. The tears just kept coming faster and harder. I choked down a breath. I felt the water hit my hands and I sank down lower. The sleeves of my sweater were drenched by the sea water and sand.

I slowly tried to right my breath. I sat back on my knees. It was at least a start. I decided to keep going and pretty soon I was standing. I looked out at the water and thought, why me? I know that people have it harder, and I should not be spending time feeling sorry for myself, but I couldn't help it. As I stared at the sea, I thought of how easy it would be to walk into the water and not come back, be free from this pain.

I took one step into the water. The water felt cool on my feet. Not today I said to myself. I need give this another try. I walked to the right, keeping my feet in the water. I thought that I saw something was up on shore. It could just be a large piece of drift wood, but I had never seen anything so big. As I walked closer I saw that it was a person. I ran toward the person. It was a man! What was a man doing here? I dropped to my knees. I touched has face, it was cold.

"Oh my god!" I said under my breath, "Please do not be dead! And please do not die while I am sitting here!" Then I saw his chest move. Thank god!

I saw his eyes flutter open. He had dark curly hair and his eyes seemed to be a light color, but I could not decide what color there were. He had a strong jaw.

"Sir! Sir!" I said, "Oh my god! Please can you hear me!"

He rolled over and began to cough water out.

"Oh, thank god! Ummm….. Sir?"

He looked at me. He had an interesting look on his face. It was a look of interest and excitement.

"Where am I?" he asked excitedly.

"Umm you are on the Cape? But you are on a private beach? How did you get here?"

"How did you get here?" he asked me.

"I walked down here from my cabin?" I answered. What was he talking about?

"What is a 'cabin'" he said.

"It's kind of like a house that is in the woods and made of wood…" I answered. What is going on? He must have amnesia.

"So where did you come from?" I asked again.

He didn't seem to be paying attention, but trying to stand, and that was when I realized he was completely naked!

"Oh my god! You… You are… Umm…" I took off my sweater and wrapped it around his private area.

"Oh, thank you miss…" he replied, he seemed to be blushing.

He could also not seem to stay upright.

"Here…" I said and grabbed him under the arm. He wrapped his right arm around my shoulder. He was quite heavy and I was not sure how I was going to get him back to the cabin. What why was I going to take him back to the cabin? I literally knew nothing about this strange man, and he seemed to know nothing about…. Well anything! But I also could not leave him on the beach.

What is he going to wear? I am sure that one of the guys had something that he could borrow… I still had some of my boyfriends- ex-boyfriend's- clothes from last year in the cabin.

I found the path quickly, and thankfully because I could feel myself starting to lose my balance as well.

"Can we stop for a second?" I asked him.

We sat down on the beach.

"What is your name?" he asked me.

"Gianna, but everyone calls me Gia" I replied to him, "What about you?"

"Oliver, but you can call me Ollie" he said with a smile.

I smiled back. I guess he didn't seem too bad…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Oliver

Gia? I guess that was something humans used as a name… It fit her. I couldn't see her too well in the dark lightly, but she was very petite, and she had beautiful long wavy hair. I couldn't wait to see what she looked like in the light.

She seemed to know a lot about humans and I could not wait to talk to her!

"Are you ready to continue on?" she asked.

She stood up quickly. How could she do that? I thought. Maybe it is because she is short. I probably made it easier to stand up. I struggled to my feet. She patiently helped me up. It was probably strange for her to be helping a man with such things… I know that no mermaid would have helped a merman with such easy tasks.

We made our way up a path in the woods. I began to become stronger as we walked and it got easier. We came to the bottom of something I think that is called "stairs" I had never seen stairs before, but all of this was pretty new.

She put one foot on the stair and then the other on the next one. I tried to imitate her and it was working well until I tripped on the fourth stair. I fell forward and landed on the stair, hard. My "knee" was throbbing. It was weird to have an ache there. I had no idea what it was like to have knees, but I knew that I did not want to fall like that again. She reached under my arm pits and helped me up again.

"Oh crap," she said under her breath. I looked up. There were more people. More people! Great I would be able to find out more about these strange customs. It is so odd how obsessed with water humans are. They were sitting in something Gia said was a "hot tub". None of this makes sense.

"What is wrong?" I asked.

"Shhh! We have to be quiet, I really don't want them to see… well me carry a naked man up the stairs wearing my sweater around… around… well his private area!"

We walked slower, which I was not complaining about. I focused on not falling on the stairs while I heard her muttering somethings under her breath. We were getting closer to the top and she began to duck her head down, so I did the same thing.

"Crap, crap, crap!" she kept swaying.

"Why don't we go another way?" I asked.

"This is the quickest way, especially because you are not wearing shoes and I left mine on the beach. The next path is all gravel and trust me you do not want to walk up there with no shoes on"

"Gia? Gia? Is that you?" a slurred voice came from a few feet away.

"Crap" she whispered again. "Yes?"

"Well come up here silly goose! We have missed you!" the voice said again.

"Autumn," she whispered again, "Crap, what are we going to do?"

I heard a splash and I assumed that she had fallen into the "hot tub".

"Ok, umm… if we go quickly, they might not see you. Try to stay behind me!"

I got behind her, but I was at least a foot taller than her, and it was hard to duck behind her. We walked slowly up the rest of the stairs. When we reached the landing I heard some more people talking.

"Gia! Come on get in!" the slurred voice said again.

"Autumn, I don't have my swimsuit on, plus I am really not feeling up to it tonight, I think that I am just going to go to bed," she answered calmly.

"Don't tell me you were thinking of that betraying son of a…"

"Autumn!" she said loudly, "I came on this trip to forget about Spencer, but everyone keeps bringing him up! I am just going to go to bed"

"Wait! Is that someone with you?" Autumn called.

She walked quickly with purpose into the building, not answering Autumn. This human world is so confusing. Who was this Spencer the son of? Why did Autumn dislike this man? Why was Gia so upset?

She put her arms around me again and helped me up more stairs into something called the bathroom. I don't know why they had it, but she took off her sweater and put me in the bathtub and turned this strange circular object. Water began coming from the ceiling. She handed me some soap and shampoo and left the room. I tried my best and read the instructions on the bottle. I also found out that there was this strange contraption that allowed your waste to be taken away by water. Humans were really fascinating.

After I finished, I saw that she left me some more clothes. I put the larger things through my legs and fixed the string around my waist. I next pulled the smaller thing over my head and pushed my arms through the smaller holes. I walked out into the next room.

"Good the shorts and shirt fit you," Gia said, "How did you end up naked on the beach?"

Why did she keep asking me this question? It was so strange. I knew I was not allowed to tell her the real reason. Our king, Triton, made an agreement with many different leaders of the human world to keep our world a secret. The leaders were in agreement that finding out that mermaids were real would be a disaster, so I had to make up some sort of story.

"How have you forgotten to do everything? Were you drunk?" she asked.

I got my first good look at her. She had beautiful red-brown hair, it came down to about her waist in waves. Her skin was kissed by the sun and her eyes were a deep green like the sea. In many standards, she was beautiful. Her features were small, but her lips were full. I found myself staring at her, then I remembered that she asked me a question.

"Umm, yeah I was drunk and I fell of a boat…" I felt that was the best thing I could say, she lifted her eyebrow at me.

"I see…" she said with a hint of suspicion. She eyed me up and down.

"Unfortunately, we do not have an empty bedroom for you right now, so you will have to sleep in here. I have gotten the air mattress blown up for you."

"Gia?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Gianna

"You're welcome," I answered him.

He crawled onto the air mattress. His black hair fell in curls, even though it was still wet. His eyes were a beautiful light blue and he had a nice cut body. His jaw as strong, but his facial expressions were sincere.

Stop thinking this way! I said to myself, but sneaking him into the house was the most fun I had since Spencer….

He settled into bed, I walked across the room and asked him if it was alright if I turned off the lights, and he nodded. I turned the switch off, and walked back to the bed. I crawled in.

How was I going to explain this to my friends in the morning? Would they believe that nothing happened between the two of us? Would something happen between the two of us?

My thoughts were interrupted by a small voice, "Gia?"

"Um, Yeah? I answered it.

"Who is Spencer? Why did Autumn seem so upset?" Ollie asked me.

I sighed, "Oliver,"

"Please call me, Ollie," he answered me.

"Alright, Ollie," I said, "I really don't want to talk about Spencer right now."

"Oh, Ok," he said. "I can tell that he really hurt you."

I began to tear up. He did not even know me or Spencer but he understood.

"I am sorry that I asked," Ollie answered.

"It's cool," I said, "Ok, I will tell you about Spencer. But I have to start from the beginning," I took a deep breath, "My friends and I have been coming to this cabin for a month in the summer since we were all like 5 years old. So, the six of us, Olivia, Autumn, Hailey, Bianca, Jess, and myself, were completely inseparable from then. We met in preschool and Autumn's parents invited us and our families up for a trip. As we got older only Autumn's parents would join us then we could bring our boyfriends and soon we were coming up by ourselves." I took another deep breath.

"That is really great that you have some good friends!" he said

"Yeah they have been like my family since then. Well, when I was 16 I began dating Spencer. We had been together about five and a half years and things were going great, or so I thought. Spencer began to ask me to be with him in a physical way. I always had the idea of finishing college and getting a job before I would do that. I didn't want to deal with the risks before I got my career. But after so long of hinting, he set up a really romantic date for our anniversary. Like candles, flowers, romantic music, he even made me dinner, which I don't think that I have ever seen him cook, like ever." This was where the story got difficult for me.

"Ok.." he said simply.

"Yeah, I decided to give myself to him, I figured we had been together for so long, that we would end up getting married someday" Why I am I telling this to a total stranger? What did he think of me now? He probably thought that I was some easy girl who would give it up to any guy who came calling.

"Gia, if you do not want to continue you do not have to," he said quietly, and with what sounded like sadness in his voice, "I can tell his is not easy for you"

What!? Like really? I could not believe that there were still guys like this out there.

"No, I'm ok," I said back to him, trying to steady my voice, "I felt that I had made an educated decision and that we would be together forever. I really felt that I had found that one guy that would be my husband one day." I swallowed. "I came back early one day to his apartment to surprise him with his favorite dish from the local diner. I unlocked the door and quietly walked back toward his bedroom, and I heard voices coming from back there. I thought that it was just the TV since he liked to watch TV while he worked. I came to his door, and it was closed. It was never closed, unless we were in there together and I asked for some privacy. I opened the door, and I found…" I bit my lip and fought back the tears, "I umm," I sniffled, and I could not keep the tears from flowing over, "I saw him and Jess in bed together," I coughed out.

"Really?" he said sympathetically.

"Yes," I said through tears.

"Why would he do that? You are such a sweet girl who did everything for him. He is obviously the one who is losing out in this" Ollie said.

"Wh-What?" I asked, I realized that I stopped crying.

"I mean, he is no longer with you, and he missed his chance to be with someone who really loved him. That is the saddest thing of all. Not being with the person that you love and who loves you," Ollie answered me with no hint of sarcasm. He actually sounded hurt, or like he understood what I was talking about. I felt my heart open, I started to cry harder.

"Oh, Gia, I am so sorry I did not mean to make you upset. I will go if you want me to!" he said and I heard the air mattress move.

"No, no," I replied, through tears, "I want you to stay, I really don't want to be alone right now."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6- Oliver

She wanted me to stay! Thank goodness, because I would have nowhere to go, but also I wanted to know more about her. I could not believe that she was so open with me, but I was glad about that.

"Alright, I will stay," I said, adjusting myself back onto the air mattress.

"Thanks, Ollie," she said. I loved the way she said my name, "Good night,"

"Good night," I retorted.

I woke up in the morning. This air mattress, was not the most comfortable thing ever. Maybe somethings were better under water. I tried to get up without waking up Gia.

"What time is it?" she asked sleepily, she looked at her cell phone, "Oh my god! It is already 10:30!"

She leapt out of bed and began running around the room. She hopped into the shower and when she came out a little bit later, she grabbed a little bag and went back into the bathroom. She turned on something called a hair dryer. She made herself what she called "pretty" and asked if I was hungry.

I had not noticed, but I was starving. I got up and followed her down the stairs.

"We have to get you some more clothes today," she said to me quietly.

"Oh, thank god!" she whispered. The kitchen was empty. I guessed that she did not want to explain why some strange man was in their cabin. She pulled out a drink from the "fridge" and filled a glass for me. It was a strange orange color, but I drank it, and surprisingly, it was fantastic!

"What is this!?" I asked excitedly.

"Orange juice?" she said raising her eyebrow.

"Oh yeah! I love orange juice!" I said trying to be "cool" about it.

"Ok…" she said, with a smile. I smiled back at her.

"Ok Trevor, let's go to the marina today and we can get one of those little like you know… Oh good morning!" a blonde girl said with some large man following her.

"Oh, umm… hi." Gia said.

"So…. I guess you had a fun night," the girl said looking from her to me and back again. I went back to sipping this amazing orange juice.

"Oh right, um, Ollie this is Olivia, and her boyfriend Trevor, guys this is Ollie," she said motioning back and forth with her hands to each person. The girl walked toward me holding out her hand. What is this weird tradition?

I reached my hand out toward her and she grabbed it and shook it up and down and said, "Well, Ollie, it is nice to meet you!" she said and her boyfriend did the same thing, "Nice to meet you, bro," he said. What does "bro" mean. I am not this man's brother? Was it a slang term? I am so confused by all of this.

"So, Gia," Olivia said, sliding on to the stool next to me and her boyfriend stood at the end of the "island," but this did not look like any island that I had ever been to, "We are thinking of going to the marina today, do you want to join us?"

"No, not today, I have to go with Ollie to get some new clothes," she said.

"Oh, Ok," she said. She began playing with the end of her hair.

"Hey, babe?" she said.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Would you like to get breakfast out? I think that they are a little busy here," Olivia said.

"No, you can stay!" Gia answered.

"Yeah, let's get breakfast at that little diner down the street. We will see you later!" she said. They walked out the door and left.

I heard Gia sigh. She was talking to herself again. I smiled to myself. I loved when she did that.

She handed me a plate full of something that was yellow and fluffy, with a square brown thing on the side "What is this?" I asked.

"Scrambled eggs and toast with butter?" she answered me, "Are you feeling ok?"

"Um yeah, sorry. Umm…" I said. "I love this!"

I took a bite of the eggs and they were hot and delicious.

"Umm… this is so good! You are a great cook!" I said to her.

"Thanks," she said, "are you sure you are ok? I mean you have forgotten a lot of stuff. Do you have amnesia?"

"What's that?" I asked.

"Well it is where you forget pretty much everything prior to an event or after an event."

"Oh yeah! I feel like I have forgotten so much stuff!" I replied. This was the perfect cover!

"Oh man! Why didn't you tell me!?" she said.

"I guess I forgot..." I said. She laughed. "That was a good one!" she said, still laughing. Her laugh was loud, but I loved hearing it. She snorted.

"Oh, I am so sorry," she said, still chuckling.

"Sorry for what?" I asked.

"Snorting! It is so embarrassing!" she said, while her face began to turn bright red.

"I don't mind it," I said. She smiled at me. I was glad to see her so happy. I want to make her smile as much as I can, I thought to myself.

We finished eating in silence. There was someone walking around upstairs, and she began to eat faster. Then she looked me up and down, "Well, these are the only clothes I found last night, so they will have to do." I guess wearing a green shirt and orange shorts were not ideal. "are you ready to go?"

"Of course!" I said. I was super excited to see what else the human world had to offer.

She led me out of the house and to her car.

"What are you waiting for?" she sent me a sneaky smile, "Let's go!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7- Gianna

Why was I flirting with him? He had amnesia, he might have girlfriend or a wife or kids! Ugh, of course I would find some married guy naked on the beach… Wait…. None of this made any sense, but at least I had forgotten about Spencer… Maybe telling someone what happened helped me, he didn't judge me.

I realized I was staring and got into the car. He followed suit, but as I put my seat belt on, I remembered that I was probably going to have to help him. I smiled to myself and reached over to help. After we were both safely in the car I turned the key to start it. The engine kicked over. I shifted the car into reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. As I shifted to forward, I remembered that I was listening to my "break up" cd. Bianca made it for me and insisted that I listen to it until I was finally over Spencer. I turned it off, I did not want to listen to it right now. The radio station was luckily one with some country music on.

We pulled out and onto the street to take us into town. I had a hard time concentrating on the road. I kept looking at Ollie and how in awe he was of everything. I could not stop smiling. It was great to see someone who was so interested in learning about everything. How genuinely happy he was. There was no prejudice, no hatred, no judgement. He was so innocent, it made my heart clenched. How I envied him. No memories, no hurt. How I longed to feel that way. I realized I had not been paying attention, and began to try to bring my focus back to the road.

But what would it be like to have no memories? No idea of how you were, who you are? Maybe envy wasn't the right word to use, but maybe pity. I looked over at him. He was extremely handsome. It would be a shock if he was not married…

We finally reached the small town. I found a parking spot at the end of the street. I pulled my tiny car into the spot. I unbuckled the seatbelt. He followed my lead and unbuckled his as well. I opened my door and emerged from the car. He followed me and as I closed the door and locked the car.

"Let's find you a place to get some good clothes…" I said to him.

"Alright!" he said excitedly, "What would you call this?"

"A town, actually a tourist town." I answered him.

"I like tourist towns!"

I smiled at his enthusiasm. We walked and looked in a few shops before coming across the store that was appropriate. I found a few t shirts as well as a few pairs of shorts.

"I think that these will fit you, go ahead and try these on," I said as I motioned to the fitting room. He left for the fitting room as I looked through the other racks.

"Oh my goodness can you believe that she did that?" said a voice on the other side of the store. It was a familiar voice, it was Olivia's voice. I thought that she was going to the marina.

"Yeah, some weird guy. He was so lost about everything, probably crazy, but Gia seemed to like him…" she continued to whoever she was talking to.

"I know right!? I would not have brought a strange man into the house! I mean he could have been a serial killer and killed all of us!" she said.

I couldn't listen to her anymore. I quickly ran back to the fitting room looking for the Ollie.

"Ollie! Ollie!" I whispered.

"Gia?" I heard a voice.

I ran to the room it came from. I opened the door and shut it quickly. I realized that he was standing there with a pair of shorts on, but no shirt.

"Umm… well I can see that the shorts fit well!?" I said with a slight chuckle. I should not feel this way, I mean I had already seen him naked, but it did not stop me from blushing.

"Yeah they feel great! But why are you in here?" he asked.

"No time to explain, but we need to get out of this store without being seen," I replied, "can you put the other clothes back on?"

He reached down and began unbuttoned his pants, I turned around to give him some privacy.

"Alright," I turned around, "How are we going to do this?" he asked.

"Ahhh grab the clothes and we will pay for them quickly."

I opened the door slowly, I poked my head out and looked around.

"Ok the coast is clear!" I said, and turned around. He looked so confused, "Um that means it's good to go!"

I snuck out of the fitting room and walked down the short hallway as Ollie followed. I looked out into the store, and I did not see Olivia anywhere.

"Come on!" I said quietly.

We hurried out toward the counter, where Ollie laid his clothes. The older women working the counter slowly began to ring out our purchases.

"Gia?" I heard her say.

"Crap," I muttered under my breath, "Olivia?" I said in a fake cheerful voice.

"Oh my god! What are you doing here?" she asked. I think that she knew I had heard what she was saying.

"Well, I thought that it was a good idea to get Ollie here some new clothes," I said motioning to him.

Ollie smiled innocently toward Olivia.

"Oh, that is great…" she said.

Why was she acting this way?

"So, what are you doing here? I thought that you and Trevor were going to the marina?"

"Well, we did go this morning, but Trevor wanted to fish, but needed bait so I came here and he went to get the bait." She said flipping through a rack of clothes.

"Oh, ok," I retorted. She didn't even smile at me. We stood in an awkward silence with the only sound being the cash register.

"Miss?" the women asked.

"Oh, yes?"

"Your total will be $164.74"

"Yes, ok," I said and handed her my credit card.

We finished the transaction and she bagged up the purchases.

"Have a nice day!" the woman said.

"Thank you, you too!" I said back.

"I'll see you later" I said to Olivia.

"Hmm" she said back.

I pulled the door toward me and we exited the store.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8- Oliver

I did not know a lot about people, but I figured that something was going on between Olivia and Gia. But what?

"Do you want to go down to the beach?" she asked. I nodded absentmindedly. What was going on? Understanding humans was going to be a lot harder than I thought. I followed her down the little path to the beach. We walked a short distance toward the water. She sat down on the beach and I followed suit.

"You know what?" she asked me.

"What am I supposed to know?" I replied. What kind of question was that? She laughed to herself.

"Well, I love coming to the beach. It is so calming, and when I am feeling down, or blue, I love to come to the water. It gives me a chance to clear my head," she said to me. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as her hair blew in the breeze of the ocean.

"Living this close to the water has always been a dream of mine," she said again, "What about you? Do you have any dreams?"

How would I answer this question?

"Well… I am very interested in traveling, to see, to know things," I answered.

She looked at me, "That is a really great dream."

She pulled a piece of hair out of her face that had been blown there by the wind. I longed to tell her my secret, but I knew that I couldn't.

"Why did we leave that shop so quickly, Gia?" I questioned her.

She looked forward, "I heard Olivia talking on the phone to someone. She is not very thrilled that I brought you into the cabin last night."

Why? We were always told to help anyone in need?

"Oh… I'm sorry that I have caused some issues with you and your friends," I said sympathetically, "If you want me to go I will."

I said it and I meant it. I felt responsible for pulling her apart from her friends.

"No!" she said quickly, "I mean… Umm... I really would like you to stay. I enjoy having you here," she took a deep breath, "I know this sounds so weird, but I feel as though you understand me."

My heart flipped. What was this feeling?

"I will do as you wish," I said.

"Ever since I broke up with Spencer, my friends have treated me differently. They all knew what happened, and they are afraid of me hurting myself or something like that, you have allowed me to go back to being me. I feel…"

"Gia!" a voice interrupted her. I desperately wanted her to finish he sentence. How did she feel?

"Hey girls!" she said, motioning to the four girls walking toward us.

"Hey girl!" they said. One was a beautiful girl with black hair and deep brown skin, and she said, "So what are you up to?"

She looked back and forth between myself and Gia.

"Oh, just hanging out here with Ollie. Oh! You girls haven't met him yet! Girls this is Ollie, Ollie this is Autumn, Hailey and Bianca. And you have already met Olivia."

All the girls waved at me and I waved back, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," the red head girl said. I believe that her name was Hailey, she was shorter, but had brilliantly colored hair and pale skin. The red in her hair matched the freckles on her face. The girls eyed me suspiciously, but honestly, I couldn't blame them.

"So, where are your boyfriends?" Gia asked.

"They decided to go play a round of golf," Bianca said. She had light brown hair and fair skin. She was on the taller side, and very curvy.

"So, Ollie, do you play golf?" Autumn asked me.

"No." I said.

"Oh, um, Gia, do you want to come and get our tans on!" Hailey asked. "We brought the latest issue of Cosmo!"

None of this made any sense to me, but I looked at Gia.

"I would love to go, but I am helping Ollie out here. I will catch up with you guys later tonight."

"Oh, Ok, we will see you later!"

The girls left.

"You could have gone with them. I wouldn't have minded!"

"I didn't want to go with them though, I wanted to stay with you."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9- Gianna

The craziest part of the last thing I said to him was, it was true. I would have rather stayed with him.

Over the next three weeks I picked hanging out with Ollie over my friends. We did everything we could around the beach. I tried to get his memory to come back. We played min golf, ate ice cream and relaxed on the beach. I could tell they were still weary of him. I was becoming closer to him, and was starting to forget about what life was like before I met him.

"Hey, Gia?" Olivia asked me one day, three weeks into the trip, "Can we talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," I said skeptically.

We walked out onto the back porch, and Hailey, Bianca, and Autumn were waiting for us.

"What's up guys?" I asked them pulling my gray cardigan around my body to cover my black string bikini.

"What's up? You haven't talked to us at all on this trip!" Autumn said, "You have been spending all of your time with Oliver."

I did not particularly enjoy the fact that they called him that.

"Umm well I mean I found him unconscious on the beach, I cannot just kick him out!" I replied.

"Yeah you can," Olivia said, "he is so weird! He doesn't know how to do anything. I don't think that he is good for you!"

"He has openly talked to me about Spencer. I told him everything, he has been helping me get through that," I admitted to them. They all stared at me with their mouths hanging open.

"Gia… We didn't know…" they all started.

"No, it's ok, forget it," I said and I began walking down toward the beach. And the tears began to flow. I can't believe that they couldn't tell that I was drowning before! I have felt so much better until now. All the feelings of Spencer's betrayal came flooding back. I ran faster. I felt the sand under my feet and then I felt water under my feet. I stopped running and just fell into the surf. The water splashed on my face and wiped the tears from my face. I sat sobbing in the shallow water of the surf for I don't know how long. None of them had followed me. I hoped that Ollie would notice I was gone and come for me.

"Gia?" I heard a male voice say. I turned expecting to see Ollie, but that is not who I saw.

"Spencer?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- Oliver

I came downstairs after my shower. I understand now why humans love these! They are so great. I heard a commotion on the porch. I began walking toward the door, but Ian stopped me with his large tan hand, I looked into his brown eyes, "Dude, you do not want to go out there right now" he said to me.

The girls stood out there and I did not know what to do.

"Here," Ian said to me, "you're going to need it"

He handed me a bottle of something called beer. I took it to be polite, but I had no intention of drinking it. The girls were out on the porch for a while.

"Are they ok?" I asked.

"Yeah," laughed Ray, "They are girls, dude, they like to talk."

Something felt off. The girls filled into the kitchen one by one, but Gia was not with them.

"Where is Gia?" I asked.

"She went down to the beach," Olivia answered, her eyes did not look friendly at this moment, and the other girls would not look at me, "We agreed with her that you are not good for her right now, and we would like you to leave as quickly as you can."

It hit me hard.

"Did Gia suggest this?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yes," Olivia answered, "She was just too nice to say anything, it is actually kind of pathetic."

Why would Gia do this? I thought that we were friends. I thought that we could have been something more than friends. I had no chance of remaining human now, not that I would want to stay without her.

"Ok," I said, "I'll leave."

"Great!" Olivia answered cheerfully.

I walked toward the door, I felt tears come to my eyes. I guess this is how love feels? If this is what love felt like, I did not want to experience it again.

I reached the door, almost unable to see from the tears clouding my vision. I felt for the doorknob, I turned it and walked outside. I stood on the front stoop, thinking what did I do wrong? Then I noticed something was wrong, I heard screaming, it sounded like Gia from the beach. She sounded terrified, I broke out in a sprint toward the beach. Even if she did not love me I had to see what was scaring her. I reached the beach as quickly as I could. I saw her and some man wrestling near the water.

"Help me! Help me!" she screamed.

"Gia!" I yelled back, as I set off in a sprint toward the water.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11- Gianna

"Spencer," I said, I could tell he had been drinking. It never occurred to me that he would come here. I saw a fire in his brown eyes, and he ran his large hands through his bright blonde hair.

"No!" he yelled, "you do not get to talk, Gia! Why did you leave me!? And now I hear that you already replaced me?"

"How could you ask that?" I said, fuming, "You were the one who cheated on me!" I stood up. I wiped my sleeve across my face to get the tears off it.

"I didn't know what I was doing,"

"You knew exactly what you were doing!" I spat at him.

He lunged at me. I tried to get away by running toward the water again, but he was too fast, he did have about a foot on me. He grabbed me and dragged me toward the beach.

"Listen to me!" he yelled in my face. I could smell alcohol on his breath, I turned my head away in disgust, "I heard that you have already slept with this man!" he pulled my face closer to his.

"Please stop, Spencer, we can talk about this," I pleaded with him.

"How could you! It took me so long to be with you and you just give it up to any guy who flirts with you for one second!"

"It is not like that! Nothing has happened between us! We just talk. Spencer please…"

He shoved me onto the beach.

"WHY DON'T I BELIEVE YOU!" He screamed. He climbed on top of me. I slapped him and as he felt his face in shock, I crawled out from under him.

"HELP ME! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!"

He grabbed my ankle and pulled me closer. He leaned in to kiss me, I turned my head as his lips forcefully touched my cheek ,and began crying, "PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!"

"SHUT UP!" He yelled and smacked me across the face. I began to cry more. He grabbed my chest. I punched and kicked him as hard as I possibly could. I scratched at his face, I must have hit him somewhere he did not like because I had a chance to get away.

I hurried, and I saw a figure at the end of the path, I did not know who it was, but I yelled, "Help me! Help me!" after the second time I was hit hard by Spencer.

"Gia! Gia!" I heard, from what I presumed was the figure at the path.

"Come on, Gia!" snarled Spencer, "One more time?"

"No, please no!" I yelled. He tried to kiss me again, but all of the sudden was off of me.

"Hey man!" Spencer yelled, "We were just having some fun!"

"She said no! Just leave her alone!" the other voice yelled, but I recognized it.

"Ollie?" I asked, from all of the confusion I realized I could not see clearly.

"Just go, man! Leave this too me, I will make sure she is in good hands," Spencer replied.

I rolled onto my side. Ollie's fists were balled as he looked Spencer right in the eye.

"Your Spencer?" he said.

"Yeah! I'm her boyfriend so I suggest you leave her alone!"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12- Oliver

Seeing Gia like this made me furious, she looked so vulnerable, so fragile. She was innocent in this. As I saw him crawl on top of her, and try to take advantage of her, I ran even harder toward her.

I kicked the man hard off of her.

He tried to plead with me, but it wasn't working.

"Ollie?" I heard a small voice say, it was Gia, I wanted to look at her, but I knew if I did I would get distracted.

Then it hit me, "Your Spencer?" I said.

"Yeah! I'm her boyfriend so I suggest you leave her alone!" he answered me.

I looked down, I would leave her alone after this, but I needed to do this, help her one last time before I did.

"You're the guy she slept with!" he said.

"I didn't sleep with her," I said my hands shaking, "I would never take advantage of her."

"You are! Really, Gia," he turned to look at her, "This guy, really?"

He turned his attention back to me. "I don't really think that you are 'her type' if you know what I am saying," he eyed me, and walked closer to Gia.

"If you take one step closer to her, I will make sure that you regret it."

"Ohh! A tough guy. You are really not her…"

I swung my fist as hard as I could right at his face. I landed somewhere around his mouth. He stumbled backwards.

"Leave now, or I will do it again!" I threatened.

He lunged at me and hit me somewhere around the stomach. We fell back into the surf. He sat on top of my chest and shoved me face under the water. I struggled to get him off of me. The wave receded, I took a deep breath as another wave covered my face. Spencer wrapped his hands around my neck. I reached toward his face I had no idea if I was hitting anything, when I felt his weight lift off my chest.

I came up from under the water and began choking out water and trying to breathe air in. I got my bearings again. I saw Gia on top of him. He grabbed her arm and twisted himself back on top of her. He reached for her arms and held them down at the wrist.

I tried to get up, but my body was not listening to me.

"Come on!" I yelled at myself.

I got up off the ground and swayed as I walked. I tried to walk toward them, but I kept falling. Suddenly, Gia screamed in pain. I used all of my energy to walk toward them and knock him off of her. I sat on top of him and punched his face, then again and again. His face was bloodied. I brought my fist up to strike him again, but thought better of it. I climbed off him.

"Don't come back," I said to him.

He struggled getting up from the ground.

"This isn't the last time you will see me, Gia!" He said, as he stumbled toward the path in the trees.

I finally turned my attention to Gia. She was laying where I left her. I walked over to her. The sight of her made my heart squeeze in pain. Her hair was wet and it was streaked across her face. She had blood coming from her lip, and a red mark on her cheek. Her bikini top was falling off and her sweater was nowhere to be seen. I quickly took off my shirt and slid it over her head to help her cover up. She was breathing heavy and she fell into my chest and began sobbing. Her hands moved to cover her face and I wrapped my arms around her.

I pulled her close to me, there was nothing that I could say in this moment, so I just held her.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13- Gianna

I laid my head into his bare chest and began sobbing. What would have happened if he hadn't come? He wrapped his arms around me. I felt safer in his arms, his warmth surrounded me, which only made me cry harder. I was so glad that he did not say anything, he just held me. I don't know how long we sat there, the water lapping at our feet, me crying into my hands and his chest.

Sometime later, I heard, "Gia? Gia, where are you!?" my friends had come looking for me.

"I found her!" I heard Bianca's voice say.

They must have all gotten back together and run toward me.

"Gia! What happened?" Olivia asked me.

I just continued to cry into Ollie's chest. I couldn't believe that I had cried for so long.

"Ladies, perhaps it would be good to give Gia a few minutes?" I heard Ollies voice say. It was so deep from what I could hear on his chest. It moved as he talked. I moved my hand to his muscular chest. He wrapped his arms even more tightly around me. He shifted his weight a little and I brought my knees closer to my chest.

"Gia, just breathe," his voice said soothingly, "Just breathe…"

I started to take a few deep breaths.

"That's it… that's it," he said a few times. My tears were coming less frequently. As my breath steadied, I looked up at him. His neck was covered in bruises from Spencer's hands holding him down, which made me tear up even more.

"It's fine Gia, you are safe now…" he said.

His hand moved to the back of my head and began stroking my hair. I moved my head back to his chest and tried to breathe in time with him.

I finally started to breathe normally. He released me from his arms and helped me to my feet. I leaned heavily on him, not quite ready to let him go.

"Olivia," he said softly, "Would you mind taking her back to the cabin."

"Wait?" I said, "Where are you going?"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14-Oliver

Why did she have to ask?

"Girls," I said softly, "Can you give us a minute?"

"Sure," they all muttered and took a few steps away to give us some privacy.

"What? Why?" she said, her eyes filling with tears now.

"No, please do not cry." I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

I took a deep breath, "I have caused so many problems with you and your friends I feel as though it is best if I leave."

After I said it I swallowed hard.

"How can you say that? Why would you say that?" she asked me, "You saved me! You saved me!" she yelled. Tears were streaming down her face now. I could feel the tears raising in mine.

"Gia, please," I tried.

"NO!" she yelled, "You cannot leave me!" she was sobbing and screaming.

"Gia!" I said with tears rolling down my face, "If I wasn't here, Spencer would not have attacked you! I am the reason for this! Please… Please…" I yelled back, also sobbing the words out.

There was a silence, only the sound of the water lapping the shore broke the silence.

"How could you say that!" she screamed through tears.

"It's true…" I said quietly, "He thought that I was with you and…" there was no point in saying anything else.

She ran to me and placed her hands on my shoulders, "No please… don't leave me… don't leave me…. Don't leave me…" she said and began to sink down my body. She was kneeling at my feet sobbing.

I sank down to her and grabbed her face in my hands.

"You don't want me here," I said to her through a wall of tears, "I will just end up leaving, it is better this way…"

"No… no… no…" she just kept saying through tears. She put her hands on mine. She then reached her hand shakily toward my face. She placed her small hand on my face. I wanted to lean into it, to allow myself to feel my feelings for her. I tried to push my heart out of my head. It wasn't working too well.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15- Gianna

The feeling of his skin under the palm of my hand, the feeling of his body, his warmth made me feel safe. He couldn't leave me. I never wanted him to leave me.

"Please…" I begged, "Please…" My heart was breaking in front of him. How could he not see it?

"I'm…I'm…I'm sorry," he choked out. He stood up and began walking away.

"No, Ollie… please… You understand me! No…. No…. No…." He was leaving. He was really leaving.

"No…. Please… Please…. Don't leave…." I got up and tried to follow him, but my friends were on me like vultures on a fresh meal.

"Don't let him leave!" I said to them, but all of them stood still. I looked from them to Ollie's back as he walked toward the path.

"Gia, it's better this way. Come on let's get you back to the cabin," Olivia said.

"What!? How can you say this?" I said, stunned, "You guys are supposed to be my friends!"

"We are! Believe us, you will thank us later," Hailey said. They all huddled around me and guided me back to the cabin.

They helped me up the stairs on the back porch and up the stairs into my bedroom. I just laid down on the bed.

"Do you need anything else?" Autumn asked.

I didn't answer. I just laid there.

"Alright, we will be up to check on you in a little bit. Try to get some rest."

There was no use in crying now. It wouldn't change anything. I brought my knees closer to my chest. I took a deep breath in, I could smell Ollie on the shirt he gave me. It smelled like the sea. I could feel his hands on my face as if they were still there. I kept thinking about the good times we had, like explaining what scrambled eggs were, or him trying ice cream or trying to explain the rules of mini golf to him.

Why had my friends driven him away? He was such an amazing friend. He helped me through my break up more than any of them had. He understood something about me, he was not judgmental. His face was so innocent, so pure.

"Please," I whispered to myself, "Please, come back to me…"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16- Oliver

I walked to the main road, and then circled back toward the beach. When I got to the edge of the beach I fell to my knees. I began to cry. None of this would have happened if I decided not to turn human. I would never know what it was like to love, it might have been better that way…

No Ollie, I said to myself. These last three weeks have been the best of my life, but I will never see her again. I will never see her again…

"No!" I cried out in agony, "No!"

How could I leave her? I love her.

"I love her," I said to myself.

I sat on the edge of the beach until it was long past sunset. I had no motivation to move. I figured I would just sit here until the morning, maybe they would let me come back early. I can't bear another minute without her here. I laid down on a pile of leaves. I had not even grabbed a shirt, and the cool ocean breeze made me shiver, at least I could feel something other than pain.

I began to think of the good times with her. How she made me breakfast, how she blushed on the first night that we met. How she surprised me in the fitting room and how embarrassed she was. How her face looked in the sunset. How her hands felt against mine while she taught me to play 'mini golf'. Her smile, just every time she did.

It was useless to try and sleep so I just listened to the sound of the ocean, of my home. I promised myself, tomorrow I would go home, as soon as possible.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17- Gianna

I guess my friends checked on me about once an hour. I had no idea how time was passing. I didn't care. I just laid there. After what I assume was four hours Olivia checked on me.

"Gia?" she asked softly. I didn't answer. She could see my eyes were open and I was just staring at the wall. I could hear her walking closer. I felt the bottom of my bed sink, I guess she sat down. I didn't look, I didn't care.

"Gia, please talk to me. You are my best friend."

I still said nothing. If she was my best friend she would have listened to what I wanted. She wouldn't have asked Ollie to go.

"Do you need me to get you anything?" she asked.

I finally moved. I looked at her, I think that I startled her. Maybe I would have been shocked to if someone hadn't moved suddenly did.

"Now you are asking me if I need something?" I heard a raspy version of my voice say.

"I just…. I wanted to be polite," she answered, fidgeting with her hands, "but really Gia, do you think that Oliver…"

"Ollie. His name is Ollie," I interrupted.

"Sorry. So, you think that… Ollie… is good for you? He just appeared out of nowhere saying that he had 'amnesia' after you suggested it to him? I mean we are just trying to protect you!" She said.

"Protect me!" I yelled. I heard the other girls coming up the stairs. Quickly they all appeared in the doorway.

"Yes, protect you! After Spencer left, he left a hole in your heart, but do you really think having a rebound guy is a good idea?" Olivia said.

"Protect me! Where were you when I wanted to walk into the ocean and never come back? Where were you when Spencer assaulted me? You were nowhere to be found! Ollie was there. He cared!"

"Spencer what" Autumn asked.

"Yeah yesterday when you guys found me with Ollie by the ocean, Ollie saved me from Spencer. Spencer tried to… well he tried to…" I couldn't possibly finish the sentence.

The girls stared at me stunned.

"We didn't know… I'm so sorry… Why didn't you say anything?" they all said a version of these things.

"It doesn't matter," I said, "If you want to get something for me, get Ollie. If not, don't come back."

I didn't look to them for anything else. I just laid back down. I heard them all go into the hall, the last one out shut the door half way. I could hear them talking in the hallway.

"I guess calling Spencer wasn't a good idea," Hailey said, "I can't believe he would do that."

"I mean, I think that Ollie meant well!" Autumn said, "What have we done!"

"Girls!" Olivia said, "Keep it together! She has known Oliver for what, three weeks now!? No, I think that she is better off without him. There is something about him. I know that he has been lying to us, but I don't know what about and I do not want to find out."

I heard them continue the conversation down the stairs, but they got too far away to hear what they were saying.

They called Spencer? They were the ones that told him everything? How could they betray me like that?

In the morning, when they were all sleeping I was leaving.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18- Oliver

I awoke before the sun had risen. I did not sleep well on the cold hard ground. I could tell it was getting lighter and the sun would rise soon.

I stood up and enjoyed my last walk on the fresh sand. I tried to remember the cool, grainy feeling under my feet. I reached the water and paused before the waves could touch my toes. Do I want to do this? It is either now or later, I reasoned with myself. Gia doesn't love me, it is better to go back when I am ready.

"Triton!" I yelled at the sea, "Triton, please come and see me!"

"You called?" Triton said. I turned and saw him floating in the water near me.

"I would like to come back. I do not belong here." I said, trying to convince myself more than him.

"You still have a week, are you sure you want to come back early?" he questioned me raising and eyebrow.

"I can't be here if I can't be with her." I said.

"So, you did find love…" he said with a smile.

"Yes, sir, I did." I said, "but she doesn't love me back. I can't be here knowing that."

"Alright, well I will give you your fin back, but under one condition."

"What is it sir?" I asked.

"I will give you until sunset tonight to change your mind, since you are coming back a week early, but after that, it will be permanent."

"I agree," I said.

"I will see you down there," he said with a wave of his hand. I feel to my hands, I looked down and there was my greenish-blue fin. I bowed my head. It is done. I got myself back into the water.

I swam harder and harder until I reached the bottom and our little village. I swam down to my mother's cave. I floated outside for a moment, then entered.

"Mom?" I said.

"Ollie? Is that you?" she said as she rounded the corner. She looked exactly the same, he long blonde hair flowing behind her, her round face that had few wrinkles on it and her welcoming green-blue eyes.

"Ollie, I thought that you had a week left? I didn't expect to see you again. What's wrong?" she said with a worried look.

She swam toward me and I wrapped my arms around her small frame, and began to cry into her shoulder.

"You found someone didn't you?" she asked, sweetly.

"How did you know?" I asked into her shoulder.

"I can tell a broken heart when I see it." She let me cry for a few minutes, then spoke again, "I have something to tell you that I probably should have told you a while ago"

I backed away from her. She had a pained look on her face. She sat on a rock close to her, and I sat next to her. "What is it mother?"

She took a deep breath and then looked at me, "You know, I was able to be human for a month as well."

"I didn't know that," I said with a hint of confusion in my voice.

"Yeah, we could, I was one of the first people able to do it. I decided to give it a try. How hard could it be, right?" she laughed to herself. "Well I met someone too. He was tall, handsome, he had beautiful green eyes, and he had wavy brown hair. We hit it off immediately. I was very attracted to him, and one the last night I well gave myself to him. I thought that would mean that he loved me, and that we would be together forever, but I didn't mean the same thing to him. He didn't love me. I woke up by myself and I quickly made my way to the beach, where I transformed back. I was brokenhearted when I had to come back and live with my parents again. Then I found out that my one-night stand lead to me having a baby."

"Mom…" I said.

"Yes, Ollie, your father was a human. I knew that would cause some problems, so I left the town that I was from and came here. No one knew me and I told them that the father had died in a fight with another animal protecting me. I had you, and that was the best thing that happened to me. So, I consider my time as a human worth it. I wouldn't have you if I didn't."

"Mom…" I said, as I wrapped my arms around her. "thank you for telling me."

"You're welcome." She let go of me and wiped her eyes.

"So, what is her name?" she asked.

"Gianna," I smiled, "but she goes by Gia."

"That is a beautiful name. I can tell that she means a lot to you. Did you tell her your feelings?"

"No," I scoffed, "Mother, she was going through so much…" I proceeded to tell her about Spencer.

"Her best friend?" she asked in shock.

"Yeah, I know, right?! But that is not the worst part. The last day that I was there, I was going to leave, but I heard screaming on the beach. When I reached the beach, I saw a man, who turned out to be Spencer, was attacking her. She looked so scared, so helpless. I fought him and saved Gia, but I had to leave. Her friends told me that she didn't want me there, but she was too nice to say anything. That's why I came back. I couldn't stay there knowing that I couldn't be with her."

"Oh, sweetie!" she said, hugging me again.

"What am I going to do?" I asked.

"There is still hope, sweetie! If you love her, you have to tell her!"

"It won't change anything," I said hanging my head.

"Hey," she said lifting my head with her fingers, "It might not change her feelings, but you never know about her feelings unless you ask. You should head back up to the surface for a while, I will try to keep the others from seeing you."

I gave her one last hug and said, "Thanks, mom. I love you."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19- Gianna

It was light out, but not for long when I finally moved. I sat up in bed. I rubbed my head. I didn't know what time it was, nor did I care. I hadn't changed, but I didn't want to. I wrapped my arms around myself taking a whiff of Ollie's shirt. I hoped that this would help me feel as though he was here now. I pulled the hair tie out of my hair and it fell around my body. I put my hands on the edge of the bed and pushed up.

I tried to move my feet, I looked down at them and put one foot in front of the other. And I realized I was walking down the stairs and out the back door, down the stairs and toward the path to the water. I stopped about half way down and looked back at the cabin. I knew I wouldn't be coming back. I turned back around and started walking again.

I reached the beach. This used to be my happy place, but this was where I had lost everything. I lost my friends, my security, my dignity and probably the only person who cared about me. I felt nothing as I walked toward the water. I didn't feel the sand under my feet or the sea breeze on my face and through my hair.

I reached the edge of the water. I looked down. What was the point of being here anymore? No one cared about me. My friends didn't. They sent away the only person who did. Spencer didn't. He made me lose my sense of security. The only person who cared about me was long gone. Did he even care about me? Were they right that he was hiding something? It was probably a string of broken hearts behind him. He didn't care either. If he did he would have stayed. Why did he leave? I took a step into the water. Spencer took the most from me. I took another step. He took my security. Another step in. He took my dignity. I took another step in. He took everything from me. There was no reason to be here anymore. Pretty soon I was treading water. I swam out a few more feet. I looked out into the blue abyss.

"Ollie!" I cried. "Ollie! Good-bye!"

I stopped treading water, and a large wave came right for me. I closed my eyes and allowed the water to bury me. I didn't try to get back up. I sank further and further down. I kept my eyes closed. Good bye world.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20- Oliver

I left my mother's cave determined to find Gia. She would probably be at the beach, I mean, we went everyday together. I reached the surface. It looked like the sun had risen not too long ago.

I swam toward the shore, but ducked under the water since I was faster that way. I go close to the surface when I saw her. She was sinking into the water.

"No!" I said. Her eyes were closed and she was quickly sinking toward the bottom of the sea. I swam as quickly as I could toward her. She was wearing what she was wearing yesterday, when I left. She hadn't changed her clothes. My heart clenched. I finally reached her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and swam toward the surface.

"Hold on, Gia!" I called to her, but her eyes were still closed.

We finally reached the surface. I made sure to hold her head above the water as I swam toward the shore. We finally reached the sand and I pushed her up onto the sand. I dragged myself out of the water, the I pulled her even further.

She wasn't breathing.

"Gia! Gia!" I yelled. "Gia, please!"

I began to cry. Was this my fault? Did she do this because I didn't show her that I cared? That I loved her?

I pushed on her chest and tried to force the water out of her.

"No, no, no, no, no… please, please…please…" I begged through tears. I laid me head on her chest. I began sobbing. "No….no…. please…. I can't lose you. I will never leave you again. Just please…." I cried onto her. I began coughing. No, she can't be gone.

I grabbed her face in both of my hands. "Gia! Please listen to me! I won't leave again! I…. I…. I love you!" I carefully laid her head back onto the beach and grabbed her hand. I laid my head back on her stomach. "Please," I whispered, "don't leave me…"

Then she coughed.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21- Gianna

I woke up coughing. I rolled myself over to get the water out of my throat, and coughed some more. Did I die? Was this heaven or hell?

"Gia?" I heard a familiar voice say.

I quickly rolled back over to see Ollie staring down at me.

"Ollie? Ollie, is that you?"

"Yes, it is me," he answered. I could feel his hands stroking my hair. I tried to sit up, but he said, "just lay here for a minute."

I obliged. Trying to sit up was a huge mistake. After I got my bearings and felt better I asked him, "How did you find me?"

He sat quietly for a few moments looking down at the sand.

"Perhaps, it would be better to show you…" he said.

He sat me up. I looked at his face, his arm reached out and touched my face and I looked down. Where his feet should have been, was a bluish-green fin. He was holding himself up with his one muscular arm.

"Ollie… I think that I'm hallucinating…"

"You are not hallucinating. I am a merman," he said simply.

"What…." I said looking at him.

"Well, it's kind of a long story…" he said.

"I've got time."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22- Oliver

I stared at her. She nodded at me as if to say go on. I took a deep breath.

"Alright," I said, "It stared many years ago with one of our king's, King Triton, daughters. Her name was Ariel, and she desperately wanted to be human. She was interested in everything about humans, and one day she saved a man, and fell in love with him and him with his rescuer. King Triton refused to believe that his daughter had fallen in love with a man and forbid her from seeing this human, Prince Eric, ever again. Ariel, who was very stubborn, wouldn't take no for an answer. She was sought out by Ursula, a sea witch. Ursula vowed to change Ariel into a human for three days so Ariel could woo her prince and live happily ever after, but it would cost Ariel her voice. Ariel agreed. She was human. Ariel found the prince and began to fall even harder for him. It seemed that Eric was falling for her too, but Ursula didn't want to have Ariel win. If Ariel did not get Eric to kiss her with true love's kiss, then her soul would be Ursula's. Ariel was getting close, so Ursula stepped in. She disguised herself as the woman who saved Eric, and used Ariel's voice to entrance him. They were to be married on the third day, but Ariel found a way to get her voice back, and Eric ran to her, but it was too late. The third day was over, and Ariel turned back into a mermaid. Ursula went to take Ariel's soul, but King Triton stepped in and offered his soul instead of his daughter. Ursula became Queen of the Sea. In her power, she tried to stop Eric's ship, but the ship impaled her and killed her. All of the souls were returned, including King Triton. He turned Ariel back into a human so she could be with her true love." I stopped for a second and looked at Gia for a moment. She looked as though she was going to be sick, "Are you ok?"

"Uhh… I honestly don't know…" she answered.

We sat in silence for a few moments.

"How does this story apply to you?" she asked.

"Well, after King Triton allowed his daughter to be turned human, why couldn't he do that for the rest of us? So, he compromised with the mer-population and the leaders on land. First, the land leaders are to leave the populations of merpeople alone and not disclose our whereabouts to the public for obvious reasons. Second, that we not interfere with workings of scientific discovery. Third, that any merman or mermaid be allowed one month on land starting on their 25th birthday, and if they find their true love, they can stay human for the rest of their life, but if they do not, then they must return to the water and are to be a merman or mermaid for the rest of their life."

"Uhhh, Ok… Umm…" she stuttered.

"The day that you found me here on the beach was my 25th birthday. I washed up here after being changed to a human."

"Wait… So, you didn't know anything about anything because well you actually didn't know?"

"That is correct." I answered, "I'm sorry to be doing this to you right after you…" I broke off my sentence.

"It's ok…" she said. I could see the wheels spinning in her head.

"So, mermaids are real?"

"Yes," I answered. I bowed my head. I guess this is why they don't want us to tell anyone.

She didn't say anything else.

"Gia, I…" I started, but didn't know what else to say.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23- Gianna

I didn't know what to say back to him.

"I guess my friends were right," I said, "You were hiding something."

"Gia, I didn't want to. I am not allowed to tell anyone. Plus, would you have believed me if I told you?"

He was right, I wouldn't have believed him.

"Why did you leave me?" I asked him.

He looked down at the sand again.

"I thought that is what you wanted. I didn't want to. I just…" he stopped.

"Ollie," I said, "I never wanted you to leave me. I don't want you to ever leave me." I said back to him. I shifted my weight from my backside to my knees, and kneeled in front of him. I reached out my hand and placed it on his face, "Ollie," he looked up at me, I dropped my hand, "I can see if you don't want to be with me anymore. Since…"

"Gia," he said reaching his hand to push my hair out of my face, "I will protect you, I want to be with you because I love you."

I could see tears in his eyes, I began to tear up as well, "Ollie, I love you too."

He smiled and guided my face toward his with his hand. I closed my eyes as our lips met. He kissed me passionately. I kissed him back and wrapped my arms around his neck. My hands found a resting place in his hair. My heart was pumping fast, as he shifted his head toward the left as did I. I never wanted this moment to end. All of the sudden he pulled away.

He fell to the beach.

"Ollie!" I yelled. "Ollie!"

He twisted in pain and screamed.

"Ollie!"

He stopped moving.

"Ollie!" I said as I kneeled next to him. He looked up at the sky and took a huge breath. I looked down at his legs… his legs! He had been changed into a human!

"Ollie!" I said, excitedly.

"What?" he said groggily.

"You've got legs!" I squealed. He quickly sat up.

"Ha! Hahaha! I've got legs again!"

He reached over and pulled me back in for another kiss. His kiss was just as passionate as the first time. He laced his fingers in my hair and pulled me as close as possible. He pulled away, but rested his forehead on mine.

"I love you, Gia,"

"I love you, Ollie."


End file.
